The oldest of six siblings, 18-year-old Memory Banda has managed to escape the cycle that turns half the girls in her southern African nation into brides, and usually mothers, by her age. But her sister Mercy was not so lucky.

Updated

03/12/2015 - 7:30pm

Into the 1990s, Malawi banned not only birth control, but sex education and even miniskirts. Now, attitudes toward contraception are changing under the pressure of climate change and rapid population growth.

Music producer Ian Brennan set up a small recording studio at the Zomba Maximum Security Prison in Malawi and had the male and female inmates sing their own songs. Many of the tunes tell their stories of prison life.

The Malawi Mouse Boys grew up in deep poverty, selling their namesake rodents to make money. But despite being cut off from outside music, with self-taught skills and self-made instruments, they created a unique sound that now has them performing around the world.

The latest threat to the safety of endangered species may just be the cell phone in your pocket. Poachers are using the geo-location data in phones to find and then kill endangered rhinos and other highly sought species.

A research study last year showed that a simple antibiotic can reduce a severely malnourished child's chances of dying by nearly 40 percent. But getting that antibiotic to the children who need it is easier said than done.

Governments and charitable organizations have distributed millions of insecticide-treated bed nets across Africa, to repel and kill mosquitoes that spread malaria. But mosquitoes are growing resistant to the insecticide. Health experts say a resurgence of the deadly disease may be coming -- one that could have been avoided.

A research study last year showed that a simple antibiotic can reduce a severely malnourished child's chances of dying by nearly 40 percent. But getting that antibiotic to the children who need it is easier said than done.

Development agencies have long promoted corn as a crop that can modernize African agriculture. Yet some food experts say Africa has now become over-reliant on corn, and the result has been increased malnutrition and vulnerability to famine.

The latest threat to the safety of endangered species may just be the cell phone in your pocket. Poachers are using the geo-location data in phones to find and then kill endangered rhinos and other highly sought species.

After dropping out of school as a teenager because of poverty and drought William Kamkwamba built a windmill out of discarded materials in his village. Kamkwamba tells anchor Marco Werman how the windmill brought electricity to his tiny village in Malawi.

The oldest of six siblings, 18-year-old Memory Banda has managed to escape the cycle that turns half the girls in her southern African nation into brides, and usually mothers, by her age. But her sister Mercy was not so lucky.

A research study last year showed that a simple antibiotic can reduce a severely malnourished child's chances of dying by nearly 40 percent. But getting that antibiotic to the children who need it is easier said than done.

Hundreds of thousands of women in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from a complication that leaves them incontinent and often shamed after childbirth. But there's help for women to heal both physically and emotionally — and it's working for one mother in Malawi.

Updated

03/12/2015 - 7:30pm

Into the 1990s, Malawi banned not only birth control, but sex education and even miniskirts. Now, attitudes toward contraception are changing under the pressure of climate change and rapid population growth.

Music producer Ian Brennan set up a small recording studio at the Zomba Maximum Security Prison in Malawi and had the male and female inmates sing their own songs. Many of the tunes tell their stories of prison life.